


we are shining

by callunavulgari



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, F/F, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-03-14
Packaged: 2017-12-05 07:52:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callunavulgari/pseuds/callunavulgari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been years since that first conversation, years of pain and heartache, where Axel died and came back to life with her heart thumping in her chest again, blood running through her veins instead of smoke and ash and nothing. Years where Axel fought tooth and nail alongside Sora before finally, finally all the shit that they’d been through had paid off and Axel had set eyes on Roxas once more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we are shining

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt off of tumblr regarding fem!Roxas growing her hair out. I could have just done that last scene, but where's the fun in that when there's good end fic to be had?

As far as Axel knows, Roxas has never really had a reason for keeping her hair short. That’s just how it’s always been, cut just above her ears—bottom shorn close to her skull and the top half full of messy, bedhead curls—not quite a pixie cut, but close enough. It’s been that way since before they got their hearts back, when Xemnas gave Roxas to Axel with a mutter of, “Show her what to do, Number Eight.”  
  
It makes sense that she came that way considering Sora’s wayward spikes, but it doesn’t explain why Roxas kept it cut that way—why Axel has walked in on Xion quietly cutting Roxas’ hair. When she’d asked her, Roxas had just shrugged and said, “Well, why do you keep yours short?”  
  
Which, okay, whatever. It’s _hair_ , and barring the time that Lea had grown her hair out to her shoulders on a dare, Axel has always kept it clipped short. She’s never really been a girly girl, has never really liked the feel of hair against her neck, and well. When fire’s your element, it benefits to not provide more kindling for the flames. “It gets in the way,” she’d finally said, twiddling her thumbs as Xion snipped away, fine golden hairs coating the floor.  
  
Roxas had given her a flat look, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Well, there’s your answer then.”  
  
It’s been years since that first conversation, years of pain and heartache, where Axel died and came back to life with her heart thumping in her chest again, blood running through her veins instead of smoke and ash and nothing. Years where Axel fought tooth and nail alongside Sora before finally, _finally_ all the shit that they’d been through had paid off and Axel had set eyes on Roxas once more.  
  
And that moment, when they’d come out on the other side and Axel had seen her again, golden hair and heart in her blue, blue eyes—that moment had made everything she’d done worth it.  
  
.  
  
They don’t stay on Destiny Islands, mostly because there are so very many worlds out there and Axel’s never forgotten how to walk the doorways between the worlds, black smoke and stardust clinging to her boots. They walk the corridors of darkness and when they finally settle, it’s not in Radiant Garden or the world of nothing, because they don’t belong there anymore. They come to rest their bones in a town of golden light and sunsets, where a clock tower stretches high into the sky, a place so familiar that it’s the closest to home that they’ll ever have.  
  
The apartment’s small, all things considered, but it’s theirs.  
  
.  
  
“Your hair’s getting a bit long,” Axel purrs, wrapping a finger around a lock of golden hair and tugging at it. Roxas grunts a bit, burrowing deeper under the covers.  
  
Roxas’ hair has definitely gotten longer, past her chin—these messy curls that snarl into tangles when she sleeps. “Should I start calling you Goldilocks? Didn’t know you were so girly,” she teases, tugging on the strand again before letting it spring back into the most typical corkscrew curl she’s ever seen.  
  
“Well, I am a girl,” Roxas mutters into her clavicle, smearing a bit of drool there. Axel grimaces and wipes it away. She’s about to leer at her, maybe say something crude about the fact that she definitely knows that she’s a girl when Roxas turns and gives her an affectionate smile. “And I’m thinking about growing it out, anyway. Felt like a change.”  
  
.  
  
It’s definitely a change, mostly because her hair just doesn’t stop growing. After so long, Axel has to start braiding it for her, watching as it creeps over her shoulders and down her back, until after a year it’s nearly down to her waist.  
  
“Damn, I didn’t think that hair could grow that fast,” she says one day, kicking her legs out over the ledge of the clock tower. She still teases Roxas a little bit, because hell, she has to wind it all up into a bun if Sora needs their help—can’t exactly have the few heartless still crawling around the realms getting a hold of it. That would be the suckiest way to die.  
  
Roxas shrugs, biting off a chunk of ice cream. “Depends on the person, I think. Kairi’s hair stops growing a little past her shoulders.”  
  
“No shit?”  
  
Roxas rolls her eyes.  
  
.  
  
Her hair’s always been pretty, even when it was short. Axel used to ruffle it up until it stood on end, charged with static. But it isn’t until Axel comes back from a quick jaunt to Halloweentown that she realizes just how pretty Roxas’ hair is.  
  
It isn’t that Roxas is even really doing anything special with it, it’s just in it’s usual braid, hung over her shoulder as she kind of... sways in place, lips moving soundlessly. Axel’s mouth goes dry, because she doesn’t even know where Roxas got the lacy nightgown, just that it’s oddly pretty clinging to her frame, the bottom swishing around her thighs.  
  
“How’s my Goldilocks doing?” she breathes, wrapping her arms around Roxas’ waist.  
  
Roxas starts a little before she smiles, her cheeks red. “I didn’t know you were back,” she whispers, relaxing into the embrace. After a moment, she starts swaying again, humming something under her breath.  
  
“I like the gown,” Axel says after a moment. “It’s very pretty.”  
  
Roxas smacks her gently, cheeks still a little red. “Kairi gave it to me, if you must know. I just like how it swishes, now stop teasing me.”  
  
Axel laughs, muffled against the skin of Roxas’ neck. “I’m really not teasing you, Goldilocks, promise. You look... beautiful.”  
  
And she really does, she looks absolutely stunning in this quiet moment with just the two of them. Gently, Axel winds a portion of the braid around her wrist, and presses a kiss to the back of Roxas’ neck as they dance to a music that no one else can hear, a soundless melody that echoes between them.


End file.
